Harken make a hollow Div2 board back in the 80s. Maybe all the big D2 boards were hollow. Basic boat building tech maybe?

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Carvers said..
TheVirus has hollow boards at a decent price point, about eur 1400. Carbon with aramid.

?feature=shared

Has anyone had experience with these "TheVirus" boards, wings, or foils? The prices are very competitive - just wondering if the quality is good too. Is the company still around?

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marc5 said..
Harken make a hollow Div2 board back in the 80s. Maybe all the big D2 boards were hollow. Basic boat building tech maybe?

I built a hollow Division 2 windsurfer back in 2022. Did it really to explore the idea of a hollow build and find out what a division2 board was all about. These are big boards at 390cm long, but I think the idea could be scaled down to wing-foiling board. Maybe for my next project I'll try to do a wing-foiling board.

Anyway here is link to build process with some photos infinity1971.bitbucket.io/

WOW!!! Respect! Thats Div 2 build is awesome, that's a lot of hours
Yes you are the person to build a hollow foil board.
Guessing no central stringer but two stringers supporting HD foam with fin tracks in and in standing area.

I'm hoping hollow board production becomes more mainstream and pricing drops.

Respect indeed

And thank god somebody who can actually build without cheating and 3D printing all the bits. The new gen has no idea how hard it is to actually build stuff (and often has an inferior product due to materials limitations with printing bits)

Just the plug for a mould that you did is a BIG deal

Hollow boards are a cool idea and feel good to ride, but they're not always easier to handle - especially during freestyle landings. In general, the board feels more nervous, but also more direct. So far, the durability hasn't convinced me; especially when it comes to jumping, the boards unfortunately don't last very long and don't live up to the high price.

I think once continuous fiber filament 3D printing becomes more commonplace we'll see some interesting possibilities in the DIY front.

Or leveraging current 3d printing to more easily create negative molds seems like a possibility.

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Lahni said..
Hollow boards are a cool idea and feel good to ride, but they're not always easier to handle - especially during freestyle landings. In general, the board feels more nervous, but also more direct. So far, the durability hasn't convinced me; especially when it comes to jumping, the boards unfortunately don't last very long and don't live up to the high price.

Which boards are you referring to? With which hollow boards have you already gained experience?

When I look at the photos from AIRINSIDE, it seems that the boards are used a lot for freestyle...

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TuberiderG said..

Lahni said..
Hollow boards are a cool idea and feel good to ride, but they're not always easier to handle - especially during freestyle landings. In general, the board feels more nervous, but also more direct. So far, the durability hasn't convinced me; especially when it comes to jumping, the boards unfortunately don't last very long and don't live up to the high price.

Which boards are you referring to? With which hollow boards have you already gained experience?

When I look at the photos from AIRINSIDE, it seems that the boards are used a lot for freestyle...

Unfortunately, I've had bad experiences with them in particular, even though their technology is probably the most advanced, since they were one of the first on the market. Let's see what the future holds

Lahni

airinside is made by one of the most renowned manufacturers for strong windsurf stuff and associated with one of the others of similar rep.
given the fragile rubbish made by some others in traditional construction, I'd love to hear you justify that comment with specifics. And declare your brand affiliations if any (I have none as I make stuff myself)

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Mark _australia said..
Lahni

airinside is made by one of the most renowned manufacturers for strong windsurf stuff and associated with one of the others of similar rep.
given the fragile rubbish made by some others in traditional construction, I'd love to hear you justify that comment with specifics. And declare your brand affiliations if any (I have none as I make stuff myself)

Yo Mark, as mentioned above, they definitely have one of the best constructions in this area. I'm not denying that. But the fact remains that most hollow boards don't hold up over time when subjected to hard landings, and they go soft. Some brands even only equip the boards with front footstraps, why is that? Unfortunately, I don't have any brand affiliation and buy my gear myself otherwise, I probably wouldn't care as much.

AirInside Superflow: www.airinside.ch/products/superflow-series/

Would love to hear some ride reports...anyone?

From the looks of it, the one concern that pops out is deck padding coverage...would like to see it get closer to the rails, otherwise looks promising to me.

Not very specific Lani. What happened to your airinside board? And you say experiences - so more than one issue with airinside boards?

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Lahni said..
Hollow boards are a cool idea and feel good to ride, but they're not always easier to handle - especially during freestyle landings. In general, the board feels more nervous, but also more direct. So far, the durability hasn't convinced me; especially when it comes to jumping, the boards unfortunately don't last very long and don't live up to the high price.

@Lahni
Your complaint has been heard - Airinside reinforces the boards for jumping.

"Introducing the AIRINSIDE HD Line
Light. Strong. And now - fully warranted even for jumps.
Over the past months, several hollow wingboards have entered the market -?but none with a dedicated jump warranty.?That changes today.
Meet the Superfly HD - built in our new High-Density construction, about 200-300 g heavier, but nearly indestructible. Final weight will still be below 4kg! ?Available in 52 L, 62 L, 72 L and 84 L."

www.facebook.com/airinsideboards

This was my experience with the Naish Nvision ...

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MeonAsh said..
This was my experience with the Naish Nvision ...

Saw your video when you posted it - always enjoy your reviews - and I'm curious why you think the hollow board gets on foil noticeably more easily than the regular construction? I wouldn't have thought the relatively small difference in weight (as a total package of board + foil + rider + wing) would make that much of a difference?

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dieseagull said..

MeonAsh said..
This was my experience with the Naish Nvision ...

Saw your video when you posted it - always enjoy your reviews - and I'm curious why you think the hollow board gets on foil noticeably more easily than the regular construction? I wouldn't have thought the relatively small difference in weight (as a total package of board + foil + rider + wing) would make that much of a difference?

On a windsurfboard there was a basic rule, like 1kg Board weight equals 10kg bodyweight in case of performance.
+/- the same should be applicable for winging but maybe Ash can get into more detail

air floats better than styro.........? Styro floats as it has lots of air but its not all air......

Lot of Patrik airinside slalom board owners (windsurf) say that they are "too floaty" for higher wind strengths/sea state, comparatively speaking..

Does anybody really have long-term normal use experience with these boards?
I have seen people using them on Instagram, and most no longer use them.

I've had a Patrik Airinside Slalomboard. Generally my boards would get soft from the pumping in about 2 seasons (Had Fanatic, RRD and the regular Patriks). The Airinside held up great and is still going strong as my buddies main board years later. He's using it for both foil and fin, but no jumping / freestyle riding, only freeride/race.

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jdfoils said..

ZeeGerman said..
This is what I've just found:

The origins are laid out on the flikka airinside page, with a link to a more detailed story:

www.airinside.ch/about-us/

Doyle was making bombproof hollow windsurf boards decades before airinside "invented" the idea.

It?s not so easy with inventing.... Patrik 'Air Inside'had these boards around 2020 - www.catsailingnews.com/2020/04/windfoil-tech-patrik-air-inside-the-carbon-nomex-hollow-board/ flikka is producing the boards for/with airinside, they are designed in switzerland, not far away where Balz M?ller lives ;-) ... I?m riding the 6.3" superflow 89l board - without footstraps I had 3.1 kg on my scale. but the best thing is: the surface quality is outstanding - no dents or scratches after 1/2 year!

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odrx said..

I?m riding the 6.3" superflow 89l board - without footstraps I had 3.1 kg on my scale. but the best thing is: the surface quality is outstanding - no dents or scratches after 1/2 year!

Other comments on its performance characteristics? Comparisons to other midlengths out there?

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Kalevi said..

Carvers said..
TheVirus has hollow boards at a decent price point, about eur 1400. Carbon with aramid.

?feature=shared

Has anyone had experience with these "TheVirus" boards, wings, or foils? The prices are very competitive - just wondering if the quality is good too. Is the company still around?

I figured this out myself by ordering a wing from them. TheVirus Chase 6.5m2 made in Poland. So, their operations are up and running, and the new 2026 models are coming soon. I haven't ordered a board yet because for the past six months I've been using a hollow Airinside board. I made a review video of the wing, and if the boards are of the same quality, they could be a great option for those looking for a lightweight board.

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Taavi said..

KT has also realized that hollow board is the future! But they are going to be really expensive. There are cheaper variants like from the virus. Have anyone tested those board?

^^^ after being in windsurfing for 30+ years , Keith just realised..? After other brands made hollow WS boards

it's all trend following to make the $$ and just that winging has finally settled from you all need short n fat then narrow and the rocker then no rocker then bevels then rocker with bevels blah blah so now it's worth making hollow boards (as it's not as easy to just bust out new wild shapes over and over every year)
So now it's worth it for them. business decision not construction epiphany IMHO

but they are so techy and the tooling cost so high that I'd hardly say they're the future. They will be an offering - but laminate over foam isn't going away totally any time soon. Look at how surfing clutches on to very old tech

Of course lots of marketing. But the board is 1-2kg lighter! That will make a difference when foiling, getting up on foil, riding, turning and jumping (duotune/(others?) doesn't recommend this, and they still say it's rock soild)! So for me it's the future. :) They say it's stiffer but I don't know about that.

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Mark _australia said..
^^^ after being in windsurfing for 30+ years , Keith just realised..? After other brands made hollow WS boards

it's all trend following to make the $$ and just that winging has finally settled from you all need short n fat then narrow and the rocker then no rocker then bevels then rocker with bevels blah blah so now it's worth making hollow boards (as it's not as easy to just bust out new wild shapes over and over every year)
So now it's worth it for them. business decision not construction epiphany IMHO

but they are so techy and the tooling cost so high that I'd hardly say they're the future. They will be an offering - but laminate over foam isn't going away totally any time soon. Look at how surfing clutches on to very old tech

I feel like there is a path to a simpler and cheaper hollow board based on flatter, more geometric, shapes. I agree that these complex shapes are really tooling intensive and are probably CNC cutting the sandwich core to make the curves and radiuses work and adding additional complexity
to get that smooth rail but I think you could conceive a simpler shape where the mold
could be made from sheet-goods, the hull deck joint would sit proud, and the sandwich core would be simple cut foam sheets.

i made a stitch and glue wood board with the simplest possible shape(flat deck, flat bottom, slab rails - cross section is a rectangle) and the shape is 90% of the performance Of a standard midlength. I think at least half the cost of these is in making them look a certain way that is familiar to us but has 0 impact on performance.

I agree that the construction techniques used for hollow wood surfboards could be easily transferred to HD foam but without the need for particularly complex rail shapes.
I believe there was a windsurf board company which sold basically flat pack kits, wasn't cheap though considering how much labour they take.